Is this gig even worth the effort?

[alack]

nope

Beat me to it!

 

[40Hz]

Gonna stand there, staring at the ground and not mention your bands name, promote the merchandise and recordings you brought with you to sell, not mention the upcoming shows you have coming up and not collect names and email addresses for your fan club? Not do anything to set yourselves a part from the other idiots in Doc Martens and black t-shirts, and run and hide before and after your set? Yeah, you might want to start looking for a desk job.

^This.

Or maybe just not book charity events?

Shameless commercial promotion at a charity event is frowned upon and will almost certainly garner your band more ill will than not. You’re supposed to be there because you believe in the cause and are appearing exclusively to support it - even though you are performing free of charge.

If you don’t get that then don’t do worthy cause events.

 

[JimmyM]

I'm out. I'm all about charity but let's be reasonable.

 

[Blenin]

You know what, im gonna go against most of what I have read. I say do it! Make it an adventure. You, we, are lucky to be able to play our music for others. I have to remind myself of that sometimes. I get to hang out with my best friends and for 30 minutes or 45 or whatever, get lost in what i love to do. If we have to drive a ways to get to the gig, we usually find a reasonable hotel and have a great time. And if it's for charity...why not.

 

[blowinblue]

Start your own band. Become the bandleader. Buy a PA. Problem solved. Yes, you can do it as a bass player.

M. M.

 

[Colin Cunliffe]

I apologise in advance for this being a long post, but please stick with me here...

I'm in my 50s, and have a grown-up job that pays pretty well. I did the full-on music thing in my teens and 20s but for the last 35-odd years music has been more for fun that profit. Sometimes, due to jobs that involved a lot of travel, I didn't play with other people for a couple of years at a time. Sometimes, though working a regular job, I still had a couple of music projects on the go and jammed, rehearsed and gigged several times a week. But I have long since given up the dream that I'm going to become a full time rock star. These days I have a regular covers band that gigs locally and I make enough money from it to cover my expenses and give me some extra pocket money to spend on my hobbies, but it's not paying the mortgages, keeping the lights on or putting food on the table (OK, maybe the odd late Saturday night takeaway). I do it because I love to play. Because if I stopped playing it would feel like a close friend had died. Because, while noodling away in my spare room is fun, the real buzz comes from creating something with other people. The reason I say all this is to make it clear where I am in my life. You are probably in a very different place and have very different musical aspirations, but this is me.

Now, in addition to my regular project, once a year I get together with one of my old bands from the 80s. Four of the guys are in the medical field and we get together for a variety show that raises money for children's medical charities. We all live in different cities now, so I fly down on Friday after work. Other than clothes and toiletries I just take my bass and a few cables, one multi effect pedal and my DI box. We all get together and go out and have dinner and catch up with what we've been doing for the last year. I stay with one of the guys who has a spare room. Saturday morning we usually go out for a surf or a bike ride. Saturday afternoon we rehearse for a few hours at the local university where our keyboard player is on staff and books us a room with all the gear we need. Saturday night we play, then go out for a drink and laugh about how seriously we took ourselves in the old days. Sunday morning we have brunch. Sunday afternoon I fly home. With flights, rental car hire, food, etc. I'm several hundred dollars out of pocket by the end of it, all to play a 15 minute gig - just three songs. And not only do we not get paid, but as it's for charity, even the performers pay to get in!

So here's my point. Why do you play? Does it always have to be about the money? I accept that we all do this at different levels, for different reasons. I may be in a financial position where I can better afford to do this than some other people. But I play because I love to play. Most of the time I'm lucky enough to make a bit of money from it. But I don't look at the charity show as a gig that loses me a lot of money. I look at it as a great weekend away; a few days holiday with old friends. I get to support a good cause, and it's all made even better by the fact that I get to play music with other people, which is about the most fun thing in the world (my world) that there is to do. I'm not saying that if we're offered no-pay gigs, we stop critically analysing whether we should do them. We all know there are rip-off merchants looking to take advantage of performers with pay-to-play gigs, etc. I don't really want to be part of that. But (and this is the TLDR) sometimes I think we should just ask ourselves "Does this sound like it could be fun?" If the answer is "Yes", then why not?

I don't think anyone has argued against this gig because of the charity side, I don't think anyone has said no because they would miss their friends. I ASSUME ( I know and I still set myself up for assuming) we all objected to the fact it was thrust upon the OP, it will cost money and not gain anything except effort.

I also understand - no No Gain without Pain. So to put me into this situation:
I lost my wife to cancer, so my mates say hey why don't we play that cancer charity gig over 100 miles away.

I was consulted, I consented, I feel like it is a good cause and I know it will cost me. Even if I support the cause I would be more than a little "upset" if a gig was thrown at me - HEY YOURE DOING THIS. Sorry buddy the last time I was TOLD to do something I was in the Army, he was a Sgt Major and I got paid a lot of money to let him do it.

As I have said in my previous posts, I understand that music is not just a job, music is music is music, the buzz and other things from a gig cannot be measured but include me in the planning.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

Not worth it.

The guitarist doesn’t even drive, so he has no comprehension of the effort involved in driving for 2.5 hours there and back.

What’s the charity? You’re better off doing a local gig and donating to the same cause.

 

[Yango]

You know what, im gonna go against most of what I have read. I say do it! Make it an adventure. You, we, are lucky to be able to play our music for others. I have to remind myself of that sometimes. I get to hang out with my best friends and for 30 minutes or 45 or whatever, get lost in what i love to do. If we have to drive a ways to get to the gig, we usually find a reasonable hotel and have a great time. And if it's for charity...why not.

 

[whero]

I don't think anyone has argued against this gig because of the charity side, I don't think anyone has said no because they would miss their friends. I ASSUME ( I know and I still set myself up for assuming) we all objected to the fact it was thrust upon the OP, it will cost money and not gain anything except effort.

I also understand - no No Gain without Pain. So to put me into this situation:
I lost my wife to cancer, so my mates say hey why don't we play that cancer charity gig over 100 miles away.

I was consulted, I consented, I feel like it is a good cause and I know it will cost me. Even if I support the cause I would be more than a little "upset" if a gig was thrown at me - HEY YOURE DOING THIS. Sorry buddy the last time I was TOLD to do something I was in the Army, he was a Sgt Major and I got paid a lot of money to let him do it.

As I have said in my previous posts, I understand that music is not just a job, music is music is music, the buzz and other things from a gig cannot be measured but include me in the planning.

Don't get me wrong... I agree with everything you've said. It was a d!ck move for one person to book this gig without asking the rest of the band whether they wanted to do it. That's certainly a conversation that needs to be had. I also agree that if anyone can't afford to do a show where the expenses outweigh the income, they should say "No". But nowhere in the original post does it mention not being able to afford it - in fact Sergius says "my issue had nothing to do with getting paid".

A lot of people have wheeled out the "exposure' wagon. I my teens I definately quite a few free gigs that were arranged to give us exposure, but I never cared about that. I did it because it was an opportunity to play, and I love to play. The fact that the gig is for charity is also a bonus, but I'd still do my annual trip even if it wasn't, because it's a whole lot of fun. And I guess that's what got me about the first eight pages of replies - I was surprised at howmany people noped out of it for various reasons, focusing on the (yes, very real) things the guitarist did wrong, but (again, if I could afford it,and these days I can, and I accept not everybody is in that position), my first thought would always be: Does this sound like it's going to be fun? Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it's an outside show in a mosquito-infested swamp with terrible heat and high humidity, playing to five drunk people who's musical preferences don't align with your genre, and saying "No" would be the right thing to do. But maybe it's a great venue in front of good people who will really be in to what you do, and the answer is: "You should have asked before committing us to this project, especially as it's going to mean a lot of driving, so please don't do that again, OK? But hey, it sounds like a lot of fun - let's do it".

 

[Jeff Scott]

Don't get me wrong... I agree with everything you've said. It was a d!ck move for one person to book this gig without asking the rest of the band whether they wanted to do it.

It's also very possible that one or more band members couldn't do it, for what ever reason. Say, a previous commitment, or a vacation already planned for during that date.

 

[Sergius Durante]

I apologise in advance for this being a long post, but please stick with me here...

I'm in my 50s, and have a grown-up job that pays pretty well. I did the full-on music thing in my teens and 20s but for the last 35-odd years music has been more for fun that profit. Sometimes, due to jobs that involved a lot of travel, I didn't play with other people for a couple of years at a time. Sometimes, though working a regular job, I still had a couple of music projects on the go and jammed, rehearsed and gigged several times a week. But I have long since given up the dream that I'm going to become a full time rock star. These days I have a regular covers band that gigs locally and I make enough money from it to cover my expenses and give me some extra pocket money to spend on my hobbies, but it's not paying the mortgages, keeping the lights on or putting food on the table (OK, maybe the odd late Saturday night takeaway). I do it because I love to play. Because if I stopped playing it would feel like a close friend had died. Because, while noodling away in my spare room is fun, the real buzz comes from creating something with other people. The reason I say all this is to make it clear where I am in my life. You are probably in a very different place and have very different musical aspirations, but this is me.

Now, in addition to my regular project, once a year I get together with one of my old bands from the 80s. Four of the guys are in the medical field and we get together for a variety show that raises money for children's medical charities. We all live in different cities now, so I fly down on Friday after work. Other than clothes and toiletries I just take my bass and a few cables, one multi effect pedal and my DI box. We all get together and go out and have dinner and catch up with what we've been doing for the last year. I stay with one of the guys who has a spare room. Saturday morning we usually go out for a surf or a bike ride. Saturday afternoon we rehearse for a few hours at the local university where our keyboard player is on staff and books us a room with all the gear we need. Saturday night we play, then go out for a drink and laugh about how seriously we took ourselves in the old days. Sunday morning we have brunch. Sunday afternoon I fly home. With flights, rental car hire, food, etc. I'm several hundred dollars out of pocket by the end of it, all to play a 15 minute gig - just three songs. And not only do we not get paid, but as it's for charity, even the performers pay to get in!

So here's my point. Why do you play? Does it always have to be about the money? I accept that we all do this at different levels, for different reasons. I may be in a financial position where I can better afford to do this than some other people. But I play because I love to play. Most of the time I'm lucky enough to make a bit of money from it. But I don't look at the charity show as a gig that loses me a lot of money. I look at it as a great weekend away; a few days holiday with old friends. I get to support a good cause, and it's all made even better by the fact that I get to play music with other people, which is about the most fun thing in the world (my world) that there is to do. I'm not saying that if we're offered no-pay gigs, we stop critically analysing whether we should do them. We all know there are rip-off merchants looking to take advantage of performers with pay-to-play gigs, etc. I don't really want to be part of that. But (and this is the TLDR) sometimes I think we should just ask ourselves "Does this sound like it could be fun?" If the answer is "Yes", then why not?

Not about the money I enjoy it, it breathes life into me but for my guitarist to be so inconsiderate and plan ahead and not notify me is frustrating. We are in the process of recording, which is something we should be focusing on, but my guitarist decides schedule gigs.

If we had Cd’s it wouldn’t even be for sale, it would be to give out gladly so people could know of us (few things we decided in). But my issue is he did this without asking me, the drummer does not care (he never cares about anything...) but I had been planning a trip out of town and it was nearing the date set


But you’re right maybe I should be a little more optimistic (Im usually very negatve but I don’t bring it upon others, that would be rude). Thank you for your reply, means a great deal


But... if the guitarist touches my radio he is going flying off the mountain

 

[Sergius Durante]

Not worth it.

The guitarist doesn’t even drive, so he has no comprehension of the effort involved in driving for 2.5 hours there and back.

What’s the charity? You’re better off doing a local gig and donating to the same cause.

Something about Koalas... and I live in Cali by the way

 

[Sergius Durante]

Do the gig...what else you gonna do? Play Angry Birds? Maybe free wings or somethin'...

Actually I might play flying gorilla, game only the highest of intelligence could understand

 

[Sergius Durante]

Thank you all for your replies, and while I am a bit annoyed, charity or not Ill do it. Maybe I could gather information and see what equipment the others use and ask them about their experience and why they use what they use.

(by the way some people in our local area called us if we could play at another charity event they are hosting... the day before this long gig... We agreed no but told them “sorry we are booked for another charity event the next day, perhaps another time more convenient)

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

Something about Koalas... and I live in Cali by the way

If you’re being serious, that is pretty amazing.

I’m in Australia and with all the recent bushfires the koala population has been decimated. They lost over 80% of the colony on Kangaroo island apparently.

Over one billion native animals and livestock have been killed because of the bushfires...

 

[Lagado]

CO2 emissions are a big part of the reason the koalas are dying. 5 hours of driving to play for half an hour, sort of defeats the object. I wouldn't do it, if you wish to help, then donate.

 

[retslock]

Just found out that we are already in the lineup... Gee, I think Im gonna burst a blood vessel

Nobody is going to tell me when I work for nothing. They took the gig without consultation with you therefore you have no commitment to that gig. The expectation that you’d drive a 5 hour round trip to work for nothing without actually asking you if it’s ok tells me that you are being taken for granted as a resource. That would be my cue to walk.
Let’s not even get into the bit about the guy having no car and expects you to drive him and his gear.

 

[retslock]

It’s for sheltered animals, I doubt they are gonna remember what shape I am

Just donate the cost of fuel for 5 hours driving to the charity and stay home and practice.

 

[Slater]

View attachment 3690384

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape…

 

[Yango]

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape…

LOL!!